Experts

Chief Research Adviser

Shinichi Kitaoka

University of Tokyo, B.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science. Dr. Kitaoka serves as President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA: 2015-) and senior professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS: 2014-). Previous posts include President of International University of Japan (IUJ: 2012-2015), professor at the University of Tokyo (1997-2012), and professor at Rikkyo University (1985-1997). He also served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations (2004-2006). Joined NPI in 2009.
(Shinichi Kitaoka's CV).

Executive Director of Research

Fumiaki Kubo

BA and Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, and A. Barton Hepburn Professor of American Government and History at the Faculty of Law, the University of Tokyo since 2003. Visiting Scholar/Fellow at Cornell University(1984-86), the Johns Hopkins University(1991-93), Georgetown University(1998-99), the University of Maryland(1998-99), Invited Professor at SciencesPo in Paris(2009) and Japan Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars(2014). President of Japanese Association for American Studies in 2016-18. Currently Vice chair of Japan side of US-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange as well as a member of US-Japan Educational Commission. Joined NPI in 2018

Senior Research Counselors

Takao Komine

University of Tokyo (B.A. in Economics). Entered the Economic Planning Agency in 1969. There he served as Director of the Economic Research Institute and Director General of the Research Bureau. In 2001, he was appointed Director General of the National and Regional Planning Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. In 2003 he was Professor in the Graduate School of Social Science and, in 2008, Professor in the Graduate School of Regional Policy Design at Hosei University; and in 2010, he was Senior Research Fellow, Japan Center for Economic Research. As of March 2017 he is Professor, Faculty of Regional Development, Taisho University. Since 2010 he is a Senior Research Fellow, Japan Center for Economic Research. Joined NPI in 2015.

Senior Fellows

Shin Kawashima

Shin Kawashima is the professor of the Department of International Relations, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the University of Tokyo. He teaches the history of international relations in East Asia at Komaba Campus. He was educated at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (B.A.1992) and the University of Tokyo (Oriental history, M.A., 1992 and Ph.D, 2000). He taught at Hokkaido University’s Department of Politics, Faculty of Law during 1998-2006 before moving to the University of Tokyo in 2006. He served as a visiting scholar at the Academia Sinica in Taipei (Institute of Modern History, 1995-96), the Beijing Center for Japanese Studies (vice director, 2000-2001), National Chengchi University in Taipei (department of history, 2005) and Beijing University (department of history, 2005), and Awarded Japan Scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2009). He has studied Chinese diplomatic history based on Chinese diplomatic archives and recently started a study on the history of radio in East Asia. His first book, the Formation of Chinese Modern Diplomacy (Nagoya University Press, 2004), was awarded the Suntory Academic Prize in 2004.

Yuichi Hosoya

Yuichi Hosoya is professor in the Faculty of Law, Keio University. He earned academic degrees at Rikkyo University (B.A., 1994), the University of Birmingham (MIS, 1996), and Keio University (M.A., 1997 and Ph.D, 2000). He was assistant professor at Hokkaido University (2000-2002) and Keiai University (2002-2004). Since returning to Keio University in 2004 as an assistant professor, and then as an associate professor in 2006, he has taught Western diplomatic history, Cold War history, and history of European integration. He had been a fellow in academic programs such as the RIPS-CGP Fellowship Program of Security Studies (1998-2000), the US VIP Program by the US Department of State (2000), the Salzburg Seminar (2003 and 2005), and the Fulbright Fellowship (Princeton Institute for International & Regional Studies (PIIRS), Princeton University, 2008-2009). He was a visiting professor (Japan Chair) at the Centre Asie-Pacific, Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po) (2009-2010). He has published many books and articles about the modern history of British diplomacy and international relations for which he was awarded the Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities (2002), the Sakurada Prize for a Book on Political Science (2007) and the Yomiuri Yoshino Sakuzo Prize (2010), and others.

Satoru Mori

Satoru Mori is the professor at the Department of Global Politics, Faculty of Law, Hosei University. He is a former Foreign Ministry official and holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of Tokyo (2007), LL.M. degrees from Columbia University Law School (1998) and Kyoto University (1997), and a LL.B. degree from Kyoto University (1995). During his sabbatical leave, he was a visiting researcher at Princeton University (2014-2015) and George Washington University (2013-2015). His area of focus are contemporary U.S. foreign and defense policy and Cold War history. His book The Vietnam War and Alliance Diplomacy (University of Tokyo Press, 2009) was awarded the 2010 Hiroshi Shimizu Prize for Distinguished Scholarly Work by the Japanese Association for American Studies.

Junya Nishino

Junya Nishino, Professor, Faculty of Law, Keio University. He also serves as Director of the Center for Contemporary Korean Studies at Keio University. He previously served as a special analyst in the Intelligence and Analysis Service of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as a special assistant at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. He was a Japan Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and visiting scholar at George Washington University and Harvard-Yenching Institute. His research focuses on contemporary Korean politics, international relations in East Asia and Japan-Korea relations. Keio University, B.A and M.A; Yonsei University Ph.D.

Senior Research Fellows

Susumu Eto

Tokyo University of Science (M.A. in Science and Technology). Joined Yasuda Trust and Banking Co., Ltd. in 1993. Engaged in finance, arrangement of financial products, language study at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, etc. Joined Honda Motor Co., Ltd. in 2002 and worked in Corporate Planning Dep., especially the China sector. Joined Development Bank of Japan Inc. in 2006. Engaged in finance and research for automobile industry, promoting Open Innovation and MOT, and supporting Reinvigoration of Local Economies. Seconded to NPI in 2018.

Minoru Hara

Graduated from Faculty of Foreign Studies, Sophia University in 1988. Worked for a Japanese securities firm, engaged in finance for Canadian sovereign and private companies in Toronto, Canada. Joined JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) in 1999 and was responsible mainly for promoting investment in Japan by foreign companies and assisting Japanese small and medium companies doing business in the global market. Previously assigned to the Los Angeles and Kumamoto offices. Seconded to NPI in 2016. Chartered Member of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan (CMA)

Ken Hashiba

University of Tokyo (B.A. in Law). Joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991. Language study in Spain. Worked in Latin America and Caribbean Bureau including Japanese Embassy in Mexico, Disarmament, Non-proliferation and Science Department, Consular Affairs Bureau, International Cooperation Bureau, Intelligence and Analysis Service, etc. Seconded to NPI in 2018.

Tomoaki Ide

University of Tokyo. Received Master and Bachelor degrees in Urban Engineering, specializing in Environmental Engineering, and specifically in Water Quality Control. Joined Dentsu Inc. in 1988. Worked as an account executive and consultant for clients in a variety of industries. Recently worked as Chief Researcher and Senior Manager at Dentsu Innovation Institute studying media company management and the relationship between advertising and the firm’s value. Seconded to NPI in 2012.

Yuichi Iwata

Joined 1995 at NTT, one of the world largest ICT group in the world. At 2002, joined Infocom Research. After that, various roles including M&A/Corporate Finance/CRE/Corporate Risk Management/ Global Management and AI IoT Alliance in B2B have been enrolled at NTT Holdings/Communications/ East/Europe. BA (Economics/Industrial Organization) from Univ. of Tokyo (advised by Kiyohiko G. Nishimura) and MBA from Univ. of Tsukuba (advised by Masao J. Matsumoto).

Aiko Kimura

University of Tokyo, B.A. in Economics, and LSE MSc in Public Policy and Administration. Joined the Ministry of Finance in 2001 and was engaged in policy work relating to finance, development assistance, national tax, and international trade. Seconded to NPI in 2018.

Jun Osawa

Jun Osawa joined NPI as a research fellow in April 1995. In 2009, he was appointed a senior research fellow. He received M.A. degree in political science from Keio University. He also served concurrently as government and academic positions; 2004-2006 an analyst (WMD issue) for the Intelligence and Analysis Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2007-2009 a policy planning advisor for the Policy Planning Division, Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2013 a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, 2012-2016 a visiting scholar at GRIPS, 2014-2016 Deputy Counsellor, National Security Secretariat, Cabinet Secretariat, 2017- Senior Fellow of National Security Secretariat.

E-mail: jun AT iips.org

Haruhisa Somaya

University of Tokyo (B.A. in Law), University of California at Berkeley (LL.M.). Joined the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 1988. Dealt with policy areas of international trade, small- and medium-sized enterprises, regional economy, distribution industry, intellectual property, etc. Seconded to NPI in 2016.

Yoshiaki Takahashi

Yoshiaki Takahashi joined NPI as a Senior Research Fellow in April 2016. He was Associate Professor at the University of Tsukuba. His main research topics are cultural differences and measurement issues of happiness as well as consumer behavioral bias related to public policy. He introduced happiness studies into government work in Japan. He wrote the White Paper on the National Lifestyle in 2008 when he was the Director of Research, Department of Quality of Life, Cabinet Office. From 2009 to 2011, he was the Head of Happiness Studies Unit in the Cabinet Office and contributed to development of Japan's National Well-being Indicators. To date, his research team has conducted qualitative and quantitative surveys in Bhutan, India, Philippines, Thailand, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Japan. He was also an advisory member when the OECD developed the guidelines for measuring subjective well-being (2011-13) and the head of Japanese advisory team for the GNH2015 survey conducted by the Centre for Bhutan Studies & GNH Research (2014-17). He is currently the head of advisory board for opinion surveys for suicide prevention in Nippon Foundation (2016-date) and Principle Investigator for JSPS Bilateral Open Partnership Research Project with EHERO, the Netherlands (2017-date). He holds MSc. degrees from University of London and University of Southampton in the UK and PhD. in International Relationship from Waseda University.

Hidenori Tanaka

Keio University (BA in Economics) and Nagoya University (MA in Economics). Joined the Bank of Japan in 1992 and worked in the Research and Statistics Department, Financial System and Bank Examination Department, International Department and Secretariat of the Policy Board. Seconded to NPI in 2017.

Kaoru Uraguchi

Graduated from National Defense Academy (BA in International relations) and commissioned as a Maritime Self-Defense Force Officer in 1993. Served sea duties as a Submarine Officer and graduated from National Defense Academy (MA in Security Studies) in 2006. Completed non-degree PhD program in Security Studies, National Defense Academy in 2017. Held successive jobs as the Staff of the various JMSDF Commands, Joint Staff, Maritime Staff Office, Defense Intelligence Headquarters, etc. Seconded to NPI in 2017. Commander, JMSDF.

Akio Yokoyama

After graduating from the University of Tokyo (B.A. in law), joined Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (then Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd.) in 1990. Worked in Sales Administration, Kashima Works, New Materials Sales, Stainless Steel & Titanium Sales, General Administration Division, and Kashima Works again since 2012. Seconded to NPI in 2018.